The Fiery Archer and The Girl In The Tower
by LoveBug53
Summary: What if the Whisps led Merida in a different direction? Specifically, to a tower. How could something as simple as a meeting change their stories? With witches, crowns, and bears thrown into the mix, how could two girls with a bow and a frying pan ever manage to get out of so much trouble? A combination of the movies Brave and Tangled. Has spoilers. Rated T. Merida/Rapunzel


**Hello and welcome to my first ever crossover fan-fic. Yaaaaaaay! And it's yuri :P**

**Anyways, just wanted to warn you that there WILL be spoilers from both the movie "Brave" and "Tangled" in this fic, as I really dotry to mesh the events from both movies into one, seemingly understandable, and hopefully awesomely epic and fantabulous story that I shall not fail at doing so. :[**

**Also, since I have only seen Brave once, some scenes may be different, but this is fiction, so why am I even typing this?...**

***Okay, well here is what you need to know:  
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**~Couple: Merida/Rapunzel  
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**~P.O.V: Will most always be Merida.  
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**~If anything pertaining to the chapter needs to be said, then it shall be said up in this little section up here :)**

**Now, have fun and I hope you enjoy your reading!  
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"Merida, honey, please don't put your elbows on the table. It's so, very unwomanly and, really, quite rude to do that anywhere at all, certainly whenever you happen to be in the presence of others. Little girl, or not, I shall raise you up with the manners of a proper woman; the way every girl especially princesses should be brought up."

I looked to my mother, pouting up at her from across the table, before turning to look at my father with a pair of pleading eyes. Inwardly smirking, I made sure that he saw the hurt expression on my face, as I glanced back down at the plate of freshly made squash in front of me, a disgusted look crossing over my features, before quickly disappearing, unseen by the both of them.

"W-Well, Elinor", my father choked, speaking over a leg of turkey. He glanced down guiltily at my forlorn expression. "Try not to be so hard on the wee lass. She's just a young'n. No harm done to anyone, all 'ight?"

To his left, Elinor frowned at him, upset that her husband was still siding with their daughter, even though she was clearly old enough to understand her relatively simple instructions. "But Fergus, she's already eleven years old! Shouldn't she know better than to place her arms upon the table? As of right now and hopefully until we must pass on the crown, she is the next in line for the kingdom, and every princess must have queenly attributes, which I why she must learn as much as possible while she still can. Merida, wouldn't you like to be a queen someday?"

Noticing my name being said, I looked up from poking at my food with a fork and stared up at my mother in silence. Sure, I wanted to be queen someday, didn't everybody? But I never wanted the crown if it meant having to live life following so many rules…

My silence made my mother groan aloud in frustration. "Ugh, see Fergus? This is what I have to deal with every day. This is my life. And the worst part of it is, is that my daughter won't even listen to, or answer me!" She sounded as if she were on the verge of tears.

Her words brought on a long and thick, heavy kind of silence to the room. Of the three of us, not one even dared to breath, my father turning pale in comparison to my mother's, now red and steaming face. I watched her, eyes wide in suspense, and surprisingly hurt, as my mother glared over at us with wet eyes. Turning her eyes away from us, she sighed tiredly, slowly letting in a soft breath, attempting at cooling her sudden bout of anger.

"I'm sorry…", she whispered, forcing out an apology. "So sorry that I yelled at you. I shouldn't have, I know that, really, but still it is just so hard. I just-" She stopped, letting in a shaky breath, as a lone, quiet tear escaped to fall down the warm, milky skin of her cheek. "I just… wish that you would listen to me more."

Though it could be argued on whether or not she was talking to us two, or just one of us, I knew that her words were directed at me, said aloud for my benefit.

"I'm sorry I made you cry mum. Please don't be angry with me!" is what I wanted to say to her, but I remained unresponsive, my heart lurching into my throat as she stood to get up from her seat.

Putting a hand to the back of her chair, Elinor blinked her eyes, pushing away the tears, and moved to lightly place her chair under the table, making sure that there came absolutely no noise from it scrubbing across the floor. The small feat caused the tiniest bit of a smile to return to her; it then, diminishing as quickly as it had come. "Well now, this certainly has been a most wonderful dinner, one that I was, in fact, never thanked for, might I add, but I digress on that issue. A wife must do what a wife must do."

She reached for both her plate and glass of wine, for once uncaring that it was the maids job to clean up the dining room after each usage. With all the grace she had left in her, she said, "Please excuse me, for I am feeling extremely tired all of a sudden and I couldn't possibly spend another moment down here without some sort of rest. Alert the staff that they are off for the night; I shall be up resting in our chamber if either of you come to need me."

Then, watching her walk away, I felt my eyes as they began to water on their own accord. I turned my head from my father, ashamed when I glanced back at him and saw him watching her leave with a downtrodden gaze. It was all my fault, I reasoned, suddenly angry at myself for being so rude to mum. I was the one who had succeeded in making her so upset. It was me who had done it, but the pain of knowing that increased when not only had it caused her distress, but it also made my father believe that he was the one who had done something wrong when it was clearly me.

Merida. The worst daughter/ princess/ archer-in-training, in the whole wide world.

"D-Dad?"

Fergus glanced at me, waiting for me to continue. I swallowed, looking down at my clasped hands.

"I- I'm sorry I placed mah elbows on da table. I hadn't meant to-… I wasn't wantin' her to- "

My words stopped, and my father sent me a look of silent understanding. I stiffened under his touch when he reached over to place a large, gentle hand to the mess of red curls on my head I called hair, but felt myself loosen after a long moment, allowing him to gently brush his fingers along the tops of my hair. For the longest while we sat there, drinking in each others presence, before my father sighed, taking his hand to raise my chin.

"Merida" he spoke, his eyes meeting mine. He tried keeping his voice steady, hoping that his message would be well received. "You know how much your mother loves ya, right? How much she cares about ya."

I nodded, ginger curls bouncing along with me.

"Then ya know how much it would mean to your mum if you could just… if you could just try to find some common ground with her, ya know? Try and meet her in da middle, if that helps any, and understand her point of view. All she's wantin' is da best for you."

A look of uncertainty came to my face, as I thought of all the things I had done against her teachings. Maybe… Perhaps I had been wrong. I should have never doubted her lessons so much. These were the things that I needed to know as a grown up and to be honest, I could stand to work on my table manners, because as of now they were just beginning to get a bit rusty.

But would she forgive me? After all of the arguments, the yelling, and the overall disagreement we've had with one another, would she still love me?

Fergus knew what I was thinking, and stood up from his chair to bring his arms around me. Feeling squished against his giant muscles, I reveled in the fatherly warmth from him. At least now I was certain of one thing. My father still loved me.

Pulling away, Fergus ruffled my hair one last time. "It is goin' to be all right, little one. Your mother just needs a bit of alone time to herself, that's all. After a while, how about you go an' give her a wee visit, eh? Have a heart to heart with her. Be the daughter that we both love so dearly."

He winked. "An' while you're here picking up da pieces you've strewn, I'll be at da market, picking up a present for dear ol mum. Maybe a dress, a necklace. Just somethin to seal da deal, that sound good?"

I nodded reverently at him, my head bobbing up and down excitedly. "Dat sounds like a wonderful plan, dad. I heard Mum saying that she wanted a new necklace the other day, so how about ya get her a pretty one? Perhaps with a bit of blue? Or maybe green. Her favorite colors are green and blue, ya know."

'Just like mine' I mentally added, throwing my arms around my father in another embrace. "Thank you, dad. You always know just what ta do in these type of things. Sorry for, you know, always making troubles for you to have to fix."

"I'd be happy to fix any trouble that you make, just as long as it doesn't have ta do with da boys. They create enough problems on their own."

Ew, boys; ugly, stupid guy cooties, yuck!

I shuddered at the thought and he laughed at me, turning to walk out the door. "And dat's mah girl! See you later Merida. Fix the problem while I'm gooone!" With that said, he happily trudged to the front door and grabbed at his bear skin belt, picking up a small sack of solid gold coins.

Staring after him, I stood there for a moment, carefully breathing in and out. Once he was gone, my eyes traveled up the stairs of our grand home to the general direction of my mother's bedroom, and the idea of going up there or not plagued my mind.

'_What would she say?'_

'_Is she still angry at me?'_

'_Would she give up on me?'_

'…_Is it possible for someone to fully give up n their daughter?'_

These were the questions that ran through my mind as I walked up the stairs to my mother's bedroom.

"Please don't hate me… please don't hate me…", I whispered, chanting my one hope. "Please don't hate me, I love you… Please, please don't give up on me…"

As I came upon the closed door to her room, my whispers stopped completely, my breathing hitching in my throat. Trying to be as quiet as I could be, I placed my ear up against the wood of her door, listening in on what she was doing.

Crying; sobbing to herself. This is what I heard. All I could imagine was her laid up in her sheets, holding herself as she wept over her failures as a parent.

'_You have to go in'_, I thought, placing my palm to the door.

'_But what if she doesn't want to see me?'_, My heart argued.

My brain scoffed at the inquiry. _'Well, then she will just have to say so and then we shall leave!'_

"Shuddup, ya dickheeds…"

Suddenly Elinor's voice was heard, sniffling loudly. "Now, what was that noise?" There came a few ruffling sounds, probably her getting up, before footsteps were heard coming towards the door.

"Crap it!"

Turning to run, a hand caught hold of my arm, dragging me down from the sudden halt.

Elinor faltered, surprised that I was here, but worried at causing my fall. "Oh Merida, what are you doing here? Are you alright? Did I hurt you? Can you stand at all? Oh, please let you be alright."

I let out a relieved sigh. Though I was a bit bugged at being caught, a smile came to me at her words. At least she still cared about me. Looking up to her, I pushed on my legs as she tried pulling me up by her arms.

"Ugh, you're getting so heavy as of late, Merida!" She wheezed, finally settling me on the ground. "What happened to all of them archery lessons you and your father've been having behind mah back, hmm?"

Damn! Well, I guess she caught me. "I've been slacking off the last couple of days, actually. I'm sure Angus is a bit riled towards me at the fact that we haven't been out for the past day or so…"

Elinor frowned at this, looking at me with furrowed brows. "Must I tell you this every day, Merida? I don't want you doing such things as archery and horseback riding. It was your father who wanted all of that, not me."

"Yea, I know" I paused, thinking for a moment. "But, ya allow me to do it anyway, don't you? Oh, mum…" I reached out to wrap my arms around her thin frame. Shocked at first, she eventually hugged me back, her own aged, yet still warm grip around me. "I'm sorry I've been so obtruding lately. I don't want ya to hate me mum, I love ya too much for dat!"

"Hate you? Why would I hate you?" she shouted, greatly confused. "Sure, I do get aggravated by you every once in a while, and I do have the tendency to get a little loud when speaking, but I don't hate you. Not by a long shot. I could never hate my wee darling!"

Her grip tightened, and she led us into the midst of her bedroom with silent, graceful steps. Laying me down onto my father's side of the bed, she laid down on hers, her arms still wrapped around me like a soft blanket. "I love you Merida, don't ever think otherwise, okay? No matter what you say or think, and no matter what you do to me, I will still love you. Nothing and no one, can take away how much I care abut you. You understand?"

Weakly, I nodded. "Yes mum, but still, I'm sorry. I should have never placed my elbows on the table, it was so rude to you and dad, and I should have never done it. I'm sorry, and I-"

Elinor placed a finger to my lips. "Shh, it's alright. You apologized, that is all I asked for." Letting go, she smiled gently. "Everything's alright now. I'm glad that you came to apologize and are here with me now."

"W-Why?" I wondered, it clearly being my turn to be confused.

"Because I can hug you!" She giggled, her grip tightening around me like one of those exotic anacondas. A long moment passed and she sighed contentedly, loosening her hold on me so I could breath along with her. "Wow, has it been so long since I've held you like this… You're just growing up so fast, Merida."

I glanced over at her through a fallen curl and nodded. I said nothing, silently noting how good it felt to be in my mother's arms again.

Elinor softened, musing, "Too fast, really. P-Perhaps I… Perhaps I may have been a bit hard on you, too, Merida… You are still a child, after all. I guess that I could stand to… to loosen up, I believe. Is that what you kids say these days?"

I giggled. "Sure mum, sure."

She laughed, rubbing her hand over her eyes.

I frowned. "What's wrong?" Was she going to cry again?…

"Oh, I'm just so happy, but I… I couldn't imagine ever having to live without you, you know that Merida?"

"W-What brought out dis, mum?" I reached up to place a hand on her cheek, hoping that I could help her with whatever was wrong. I was surprised when she took my hand in her own and placed a kiss to my knuckles. "Please tell me. I don't like seeing you so sad."

Elinor forlorn smiled brought a few tears to my eyes. She swallowed, unsure if she could speak, and let in a slow breath that was steadily becoming way, too uncomfortably common for me to like. Tracing her cheek with my fingers, I took my hand back and swallowed, resting it on the comforter near my chest.

"I was just remembering. Do you know of that kingdom a few hours away from here? The one that's still quite far, even if you were to go by horseback?"

I stilled, puzzled by her response. "Um… I really don't know. For some reason we have so many kingdoms nowadays… And are ya talking about dat one, really big one? You know, da one with da lake and da big light display dat they have each year?"

Nodding sadly, she looked into my eyes. "They do the lights every year on the day of their daughter's birthday. In a few weeks she'll be twelve, just one more year older than you, you know."

Dumbly, I stared down at my hands in confusion, trying to understand what she was getting at. "I see, but… but what does their twelve year old daughter have to do with me?"

'_And if she's been thinking about this, why is this the first time that I am hearing about any of this?'_ my mind asked, peeved at how concerned it was causing my mother to feel.

Unknowing of my growing annoyance, she continued. "Well, twelve years ago, a few months after their daughter was born, she was-"

I blinked as my mother forced herself to swallow a lump in her throat. "She was kidnapped. I don't know whatever for, but word of it had spread fast between all of the other kingdoms and before long everyone knew of it. They sent hundreds of people out in an attempt to find her, but she was never found. My heart breaks for their queen and the poor girl that was taken from them. I can't imagine- I just… Oh, Merida! I would have just died if something was to ever happen to you." And with that she threw her arms around me in another vice grip, crying into my shoulder.

Forcing myself to forget about the wetness entering my clothes, I wrapped my arms around her, trying my hardest to comfort her. "Shhh… Please! Please don't cry mum. I'm here, I'm here. Ya don't have to worry about meh going anywhere, cuz I'm right here. I'm here, shhh…"

We laid there for a long time, the both of us holding onto one another. Finally, she let go of me and smiled through her tears, the wet streaks of them sticking to her pale cheeks.

'_Don't worry mum, I'll listen from now on…' _Suddenly, I thought of the time we tried wearing corsets. Those damn horrible, tight floozy things. How they are floozy, I don't really know, but they are, because I hate them with a passion! _'Well, sorry… I kind of take that back. Dad said to compromise, so I shall. I _will _listen, but within reason, of coarse…'_

The sudden distant sound of a door slamming downstairs brought both of our attentions to the door. It stood slightly ajar, open and ready for whoever was to use it next.

"What was that? Was that your father? Did he leave?" Elinor pushed herself up from the bed and tiptoed over to the door. She looked out past the long staircase to their bedroom, watching as her husband placed a small brown package onto the very edge of the dining table. "Now what could that little package be?" she wondered, reaching a hand up to wipe at her eyes. After a moment of wondering, her eyes widened, rounding on me, taking me by surprise.

"Merida Willow McCullough McLaughlin, what did you have your father go out and do?"

Wait, what? "W-What did I do now?"

Ignoring my cry, she threw open the door and stormed down the steps towards her husband. Jumping out of the bed, I went over to the door and paused, peeping in on their interaction, praying that my father wouldn't become her next target for wrath practice. She was beginning to become quite good at it.

Turning up, he saw her heading in his direction and smiled up at her, his red, bushy beard moving along with his smirk. He lent down to pick up the present for her. Only when she was near him and poking a sharp finger into his chest, did he let the cheery grin slip away from him.

Dumbfounded at her anger, he asked, "What is it, Elinor?"

"You obviously." She looked down at the package in his hands. "And what's that ya have there?"

"It's a present."

"… A present?"

Fergus grinned once more, pushing the tiny package into her delicate hands. He wrapped her fingers around it gently, smiling at her, before finally letting her go.

"Yeah. Just a simple present for you, mah love."

Elinor, baffled by his sudden gift, looked down at the package in her hands. Her lips tilted into a grin. She looked up at Fergus, placing a hand over one of his. "Nothing is simple if it comes from you, love." Looking back to the package, she began to gingery unwrap it, dropping the wrapping onto the floor when she saw what it was. It was so beautiful; she couldn't help the gasp that escaped her.

"Fergus", she gasped, holding up a sparkling, light blue crystal before her. "It's so… beautiful, so blue! … And so expensive looking." Her voice quickly dropped, her eyes rolling annoyed at his expense. "Fergus, how much did ya spend on this thing? It must have cost, like, seventy-five pounds! Seriously, we can't keep doing this Ferg-"

"Hold it up to da light."

His words stopped the beginnings of her rant. She glared over at him, mad for being interrupted, and decided that she should just humor him and then go to bed. That would be the best thing for everyone now, wouldn't it? Still, it was quite beautiful on it's long, golden chain. He had spent so much on it; was there any way to return it to the jeweler?

From the bedroom door, I inched closer to the frame and watched as my mother went onto her tip toes to find a nice, bright stream of light. Once she finally got the bright beam to touch its surface, a gasp escaped the both of us. All different shades of blue filled the room, shrouding the room in warm shades of sky, ice, and navy. It was as if everything in the entire world that had been blue had been smashed into paint and had been skillfully put on display, brushed expertly, almost spiritual like, making my dining room one of the most breathtaking sights in the entire world. My father smiled at her expression, taking in her gaping mouth with great stride and loving every freaking second of it.

Staring at the walls for a long time, Elinor finally shook her head, snapping out of it and turning back to her husband with a mock glare.

"I love it Fergus, but I swear that this is the last present you will _ever_ buy for me!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes, and I don't want you to disobey me."

Fergus smiled. "Eh, fine meh love, no more gifts for ya. Quite all 'ight though, cuz it leaves more money for meh huntin an' archery!"

At this, Elinor slapped his arm, causing me to giggle. Taking one last look at them, I closed the door softly behind me and headed towards my bedroom for a good night's rest.

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**There, you guys got to see little Merida and her bitchy mom! Yaaaaay. Sorry for da language. Anyways, this is just the beginning. Been making it up as I go along, so it may take a little while especially since school will be coming up in the next few weeks, but hopefully you can bear with me. Reviews make the chapters come faster! :)**

**Well, that and less sleep. But I need sleep, so... yeah.  
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